Ramen in Japan

As you may or may not know, Ramen (ラーメン) is one of those quintessentially Japanese things that many people confuse as being somehow related to Chinese cuisine. But it is most definitely not!

But saying that Japanese ramen is Chinese food would be like calling Italian pasta "Chinese". Sure, the noodles may have been in some way inspired by the Chinese, but everything else is, well, Japanese.

Anyway, I've been on a bit of a ramen kick lately, and I've ticked off Ippudo (一風堂) and Afuri, both in Ebisu (恵比寿) from the list.

They are both very good, in different ways. Afuri ramen uses a shouyu (soy sauce) soup whilst Ippudo uses tonkotsu (pork bones) for its soup. However, in my opinion, they both aren't as nice as aoba ramen (at least, the one in nakano). The secret to aoba's ramen is that its soup is a blend of tonkotsu and soy sauce, so you get the best of both worlds, and the egg is perfectly runny (unlike Afuri's egg, which is a little on the overcooked side).

However, even aoba ramen isn't as nice as the miso based chasiu ramen I had in this shop in the original ramen alley in sapporo. That was truly AMAZING ramen.

Here's what the aoba ramen looks like: